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Abilities
Abilities are the Traits that describe what you know and what you've learned to do. A character's Attributes measure her raw potential, her Abilities measure her ability to use that potential. Most actions combine an Attribute and an appropriate Ability to form a dice pool that's rolled to determine a character's success and failure. There are 30 Abilities, divided into 10 Talents, 10 Skills, and 10 Knowledges. Each Ability covers a broad range of aptitudes, but for some that denote a particularly broad area of study (such as Academics, Crafts, Science, and Technology) it's best to pick a specialty even if the character doesn't yet have four dots in the Ability -- though a character's good at making things with her hands, she's likely not equally good at baking and auto repair. While Talents can be trained, they're based on an inborn talent that every character possesses. The only way to improve Talents is through direct practice and experience -- with a very few exceptions, reading a book or watching an online video doesn't provide the same feedback as actually going out and doing it. If your character attempts an action involving a Talent she doesn't possess, your dice pool is the associated Attribute, without penalty. Talents are so intuitive that almost anyone can execute them to some degree. Talents Alertness Alertness describes the attention that the character pays to the world around him, whether he's actively looking or not. It measures how attuned the character is to things that he can see, smell, hear, and touch -- and to the less tangible conclusions that come from his senses. In combat, it's often paired with Wits to gauge a character's reaction time and ability to respond; out of combat, it's most usually paired with Perception to gain clues about a character's surroundings. Specialties: Ambushes, Eavesdropping, Paranoia, Scents, Traps Possessed By: Bodyguards, Hunters, Security Personnel, Thieves, Wild Animals Athletics Athletics is the Talent that covers basic athletic ability, along with any formal training in sports or other physical endeavors. Athletics covers all forms of running, jumping, swimming, throwing, and the like. A character with high Athletics might be a trained athlete or a gifted individual who spends a lot of time in some form of exercise. This Talent doesn't cover simple motor actions like lifting weights or athletic feats covered by other Abilities (such as boxing or fencing, covered by Brawl and Melee respectively). Specialties: Specific sports, Distance Trials, Pentathlon, Rock Climbing, Swimming, Team Play, Tumbling Possessed By: Athletes, "Extreme" Sports Nuts, Jocks, Kids, Lupus, Outdoors Enthusiasts Brawl Brawl is the fine art of injuring other people with only your natural weapons. For humans, this involves punches, kicks, elbows, and the like. For a werewolf, it also covers the powerful teeth and claws of her non-human forms. Brawl reflects the character's experience in actual fights alongside any formal martial arts training. Experienced brawlers need to be ruthless and brutal, willing to fight on through loose teeth and broken bones to make the other guy fall first. Specialties: Boxing, Dirty Infighting, Kailindo, Weaponless Martial Arts (Judo, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, etc.), Wrestling Possessed By: Police, Self-Defense Instructors, Soldiers, Thugs, Werewolves Empathy Empathy measures a character's ability to identify other people's emotions and feelings. She may use this to take advantage of someone, feign sympathy, or even connect genuinely. A particularly successful Empathy roll might even allow her to tell if someone is lying to her. A highly empathetic character has to watch out, however -- she may get so caught up in the feelings of others that her own emotions are affected, whether she wants to or not. Specialties: Affairs of the Heart, Emotional States, Hidden Motives, Personality Quirks, Sense Lies Possessed By: Actors, Con Artists, Counselors, Psychics Expression Expression is the art of getting your point across to an audience, in any medium. A character with a high Expression Trait sends emails and tweets with the same eloquence and delicate phrasing she demonstrates in her public speaking, and people sit up and take note -- whether she's telling the truth or not. Expression covers the delivery of information using language as a primary form, whether poetry, speeches, or blog posts. Using non-verbal forms to hook the public's imagination is the domain of Performance. You can choose a specialty for Expression even if you have less than four dots. Specialties: Drama, Inspiriting Speeches, Poetry, Political Doubletalk, Rhetoric, Social Media Possessed By: Actors, Bloggers, Galliards, Poets, Politicians, Writers Intimidation Intimidation involves applying pressure to make someone else do what you want them to. It can take many forms, from soft, subtle persuasion to outright brute force. Intimidation need not be cruel or callous; a well-placed intimidating conversation might even be called "diplomatic." An intimidating character knows what to do and say depending on the occasion, and is very persuasive when he wants something done. Specialties: Blackmail, Good Cop/Bad Cop, Physical Threats, Revenge, Veiled Threats Possessed By: Ahroun, Bullies, Drill Sergeants, Gangsters, Officers, Pack Leaders, Shadow Lords Leadership Leadership makes a character the kind of person or wolf that others support and serve. It involves knowing what to say and how to say it so that people fighting with you will do what you need them to. That said, Leadership has less to do with manipulating other people and more to do with portraying yourself as the kind of person they want to follow. Good leaders know when to make suggestions, when to bark orders -- and when to lead by example. Specialties: Combat Readiness, Compelling, Military, Motivation, Open Possessed By: Executives, Military Officers, Pack Alphas, Philodox, Politicians Primal-Urge This Talent describes a character's connection to her bestial nature, and her level of gut feelings in her various non-human forms. A character with high Primal-Urge relies not just on her heightened instincts, but a whole range of sensory information that humans don't fully understand. Her understanding of her feral nature gives her an easier time when changing form, and can let her instinctively notice signs of supernatural activity -- though this rarely goes beyond the level of a chill down the spine or the hairs on her neck standing on end. Specialties: Hunches, Hunting, Reacting, Shifting Forms Possessed By: Lupus, Predators, Wild Animals Streetwise A character with this Talent is at home on the streets. He can fit in with rough crowds, knows who to ask for information, understands slang, and can buy and sell whatever people want to trade. The network of criminals, junkies, and lowlifes who live on the streets will turn on an outsider, but if he's careful, a streetwise werewolf can get his hands on almost anything. Specialties: Fencing, Gangs, Illegal Drugs, Illegal Guns, Unsecured Wifi Possessed By: Beat Cops, Bone Gnawers, Criminals, Detectives, Gang Members, Homeless People Subterfuge Subterfuge involves hiding your motives and projecting something else on top of that. If you can figure out what someone else wants, you can twist that to your best advantage. This Trait defines your talent for intrigue, double-dealing, con artistry, and just plain lying to people. Characters with high Subterfuge are masters of finding people who want something for nothing and giving them nothing for something, knowing precisely what to say to further their own goals. Specialties:'''Feigned Innocence, Long Con, Seduction, White Lies '''Possessed By: Con Artists, Lawyers, Politicians, Uktena, Vampires Hobby Talent This category includes anything that's mainly self-taught and is more active than intellectual. Storytellers should first examine the existing Talents to determine if a particular Hobby Talent is better off as a specialty under one of those (for example, Seduction and Intrigue would both be specialties of Subterfuge). Suggested Hobby Talents: Carousing, Diplomacy, Fortune Telling, Instruction, Negotiation, Scrounging Skills Animal Ken Humans think and behave far differently to other animals. It takes a special touch to deal with other creatures, especially if they're hurt or frightened. A person (or werewolf) with Animal Ken knows how to speak and move in such a way to gain an animal's trust. Without it, even homid werewolves have a hard time dealing with animals that can sense their Rage. Animal Ken is also necessary for training animals and for working closely with animals (such as leading a mule train). Specialties: Attack Training, Big Cats, Dogs, Falconry, Farm Animals, Feral Animals, Horses Possessed By: Animal Trainers, Farmers, Pet Owners, Veterinarians Crafts The Crafts Skill covers a character's ability to make or fix things with her hands. Crafts allows her to work in fields including carpentry, leather-working, weaving, or even areas requiring mechanical expertise such as car repair. Crafts is especially useful for werewolves who hope to make fetishes. It's easier to convince a spirit to enter a vessel that's made well, after all. A player must always choose a specialty in Crafts, even when her character has less than four dots in the Skill. Specialties: Auto Repair, Carving, Drawing/Painting, Metalworking, Sculpture, Weaving, Woodwork Possessed By: Artists, Designers, Hand-crafters, Inventors, Theurges, Weaponsmiths Drive The Drive Skill covers familiarity with cars and related vehicles. The difficulty of a given Drive roll might increase or decrease depending on the terrain and the character's familiarity with the vehicle. Having taken her pack on a road trip in her station wagon isn't much use when she's chasing the horizon at 150 in a new Porsche, and neither is of much use when the only getaway vehicle is a motorcycle. Specialties: Heavy Traffic, High Speed, Motorcycles, Off-road Possessed By: Automobile Show Hosts, Cabbies, Race Car Drivers, Truckers Etiquette Etiquette is the ability to be nice to people, whatever you think of them. Part of that is good manners and social niceties, but it's also useful for the subtler side of diplomacy, knowing when to haggle, and what to do when a place setting has more knives than a serial killer's basement. While a character understands the culture in which he was raised, the Storyteller may raise the difficulty should he be faced with traditions and mores that are not his own. Specialties: Big Business, High Society, Moots, Tribal Possessed By: Diplomats, Executives, Silver Fangs, Socialites Firearms A character with the Firearms Skill knows how to kill things with guns. Sticking a klaive in the back of a Wyrm-tainted CEO is a gilt-edged invitation to the police, but blowing him away at an ATM can look like just another mugging gone wrong. This Skill represents a broad knowledge and familiarity with all kinds of guns, from a kid's BB pistol to a heavy machine gun. The character can clean, repair, recognize, and accurately fire pretty much any kind of small arms he comes across -- though it doesn't extend to artillery or tank cannons (themselves covered by a specialized Professional Skill). Specialties: Gunsmithing, Marksmanship, Pistols, Rifles, Submachine Guns, Trick Shots Possessed By: Criminals, Hunters, Police, Soldiers, Survivalists Larceny The Larceny Skill entails familiarity with the tools and techniques of the professional criminal. You can pick locks, forge documents by hand, crack safes, hot-wire cars, break into places, and run a mean game of three-card monte. Larceny doesn't just cover breaking systems and picking pockets -- it's also used to set up "unbreakable" security, notice pickpockets, and deduce where thieves broke in. The Skill doesn't extend to computer forgery, or to advanced security systems like video surveillance and alarm systems -- those fall under the auspices of the Computer and Technology Knowledges, respectively. Specialties: Hot-wiring, Lock picking, Misdirection, Pickpocketing, Safe cracking Possessed By: Burglars, Con Artists, Policemen, Ragabash, Security Consultants, Street Magicians Melee The counterpart to Firearms and Brawl, the Melee Skill involves fighting up close and personal with a weapon. A master of Melee can use a sword, spear, staff, or a wooden stake with equal ease. Werewolves use this Skill to fight with klaives -- silver fetish blades. This Skill covers weapons from around the world, such as tonfa, kukri, and shotels. While modern weaponry and the Garou's natural weapons can leave Melee feeling outdated, knives don't run out of ammo, and a heavy club doesn't inspire the Delirium. Specialties: Improvised Weaponry, Klaives, Spears, Swords Possessed By: Ahroun, Gang Members, Martial Artists, , Police, Thugs Performance The Performance Skill covers a character's ability with performance arts, including singing, dancing, acting, and music. She knows about the history of her art, and has a broad repertoire of pieces that she can perform from a variety of time periods. This Skill combines technical aptitude with the ability to hook an audience and keep them enraptured with your show. A player must always choose a specialty in Performance, even when her character has less than four dots in the Skill. Specialties: Acting, Dancing, Guitar Solos, Howling, Opera, Rock and Roll, Singing Possessed By: Actors, Dancers, Galliards, Musicians, Singers Stealth Stealth allows a character to avoid being seen or heard, whether moving through cover and shadows, hiding in a crowd, or shadowing someone on his route home. Most uses of Stealth are contested by someone else's Perception + Alertness, with whoever rolls the most successes thwarting the other. The Storyteller should keep in mind that staying hidden in a forest is very different to hiding out in an urban alleyway. Stealth is also used for hiding items, either on one's person when being searched or in the environment. Specialties: Crowds, Hiding Objects, Shadowing, Taking Point, Urban Possessed By: Assassins, Cat Burglars, Hunters, Ragabash, Snipers Survival Characters skilled in Survival can live off the land without a ready supply of food, water, or shelter. This Skill covers finding all of those essentials, along with tracking, starting fires, navigating through dangerous territory, and determining which foods are safe and which are deadly poisons. Lupus have an edge on other Garou with this Skill, as it covers many of the tasks necessary to survive in a wolf pack. The Storyteller should note that characters in the wilderness can't roll more dice in Stealth than they have in Survival. Specialties: Specific Environments (Arctic, Desert, etc.), Foraging, Tracking, Trapping Possessed By: Explorers, Hunters, Lupus, Outdoor Enthusiasts, Rangers, Scouts Professional Skill This category encompasses anything that the Storyteller deems to be a taught Ability and is primarily active in application. Storytellers should first examine the list of existing Skills to determine if a particular task might fall under one of those (e.g. Tracking would be a specialty of Survival). Suggested Professional Skills: Aircraft, Archery, Cooking, Demolitions, Escapology, Gambling, Meditation Knowledges Academics The Academics Knowledge represents the character's education in the humanities: Literature, history, art, philosophy, linguistics, and other subjects normally encompassed under the banner of "liberal arts." A high Academics rating indicates a well-rounded knowledge in many of these fields, along with expertise in one in particular. A player must always choose a specialty in Academics, even when her character has less than four dots in the Skill. Specialties: Color Theory, Ethics, Linguistics, Metaphysics, Post-structuralism, Sumeria Possessed By: Arts Students, Historians, Literati, Professors, Topical Bloggers Computer Computer defines the character's ability to operate and program computers, from traditional desktops and laptops to cellphones and tablets. A character with this Knowledge is also assumed to have a general familiarity with the Internet, including the use of search engines and online research resources. At higher levels, you can write software and create convincing fake websites, and even use system vulnerabilities to break in to secure networks. Specialties: Internet research, Video Editing, Photo Manipulation, Programming, Computer Languages Possessed By: Students, Office Workers, Programmers, Tech Journalists, Tech Support Enigmas The Enigmas Knowledge describes a character's ability to solve logic problems, puzzles, and mysteries. Characters with this Knowledge link information, trivia, and hunches to solve conundrums of all varieties -- especially useful when dealing with spirits who do not share a werewolf's frame of reference. High Enigmas can lead a character to apply lateral thinking to all manner of problems, from setting up codes and signals among his pack so they can talk in secret, to matching wits against a devious villain. Specialties: Ancient Mysteries, Lateral Thinking, Logic Problems, Things Werewolves Were Not Meant to Know Possessed By: Mystery Fans, Mystics, Quiz Teams, Theurges, Wise Elders Investigation Investigation ties physical evidence, witness statements, and lucky finds together into a coherent narrative that tells the character what actually happened. A character with high Investigation can distinguish murder from accident, and follow up on leads to solve thefts and kidnappings. This Knowledge also covers general forensic procedures, such as lifting fingerprints, tracing bullet paths, and approximating time of death. Note that Investigation is rooted entirely in evidence and witness statements, the feats of induction common to TV detectives fall to Enigmas. Specialties: Ballistics, Evidence, Fingerprints, Forensics, Internet Research, Searches Possessed By: Detectives, Mystery Buffs, Policemen, Reporters, Special Agents, Stalkers Law The Law Knowledge covers a character's familiarity with law enforcement systems and legal codes, both in human jurisdictions and among the Garou. When a character's in trouble with the police, he needs this Knowledge to get out of legal tangles, and when a pack stands accused of breaching the Litany, their Philodox needs to know how his sept is likely to react. More than that, many Philodox learn the codes that have grown up around the Litany, and the appropriate punishments for crimes against the Garou Nation. Specialties: Fitting Punishments, Litany Breaches, Human Field (Criminal, Liability, etc.) Possessed By: Philodox, Lawyers, Judges, Detectives, Crime Writers Medicine Medicine is the study of how the human body works, and how to fix it when it goes wrong. This Knowledge encompasses fields including anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and emergency aid. Characters with this Knowledge can diagnose and treat diseases and injuries, and can also care for wolves and other animals -- though their expertise will not be as specific as that of a veterinarian unless they choose a veterinary specialty. Medicine's knowledge of pharmaceuticals covers both legal and illicit substances that can be used to help or harm. Specialties: Emergency Medicine, Forensic Pathology, Neurology, Pharmacology, Poison Treatments, Garou Physiology Possessed By: MDs, Med Students, Nurses, Paramedics, Theurges Occult The character has a working knowledge of the vast area of the occult. He knows something about (but not limited to) psychic phenomena, tarot, various systems of magic, and general mysticism. This Knowledge doesn't confer hard facts, as the pool of information that it works from is based in human folklore and tales. A character with high Occult likely knows more about vampires than a teenager who has read a Twilight novel, but he won't know anything about the leeches' actual secrets -- though he may be able to work out what's actively false. Specialties: Tarot, Witchcraft, Curses, Ghosts, Psychometry, Garou Lore Possessed By: Theurges, Occultists, New Agers, the Superstitious, Fortune-Tellers Rituals Rituals are an important part of werewolf life. Ritual behavior helps a werewolf control the Rage within. This Knowledge lets the character know about the traditions, mysteries, and ceremonies of the Garou, including how to participate in common rites and how to behave properly towards elders and leaders. Some werewolf rituals are more than formalized behavior: They call upon ancient spirit magics to powerful effect. A character cannot learn a rite of higher level than his Rituals rating. Specialties: Accord, Caern, Death, Minor, Mystic, Punishment, Renown, Seasonal Possessed By: Changing Breeds, Garou, a few Kinfolk Science At its most basic, Science involves developing hypotheses and testing them through the scientific method. This Knowledge covers the "hard sciences" and related fields -- from biology and chemistry to more abstract fields like mathematics. It allows the character to develop theories and test them through experimentation and to apply what she knows to everyday problems. A player must always choose a specialty in Science, even when her character has less than four dots in the Skill. Specialties: Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Experiments, Mathematics, Physics, Theory Possessed By: Researchers, Engineers, Inventors, Technicians, Students, Pilots Technology The Technology Knowledge represents a character's broad aptitude with electronics, computer hardware, and anything that needs an understanding of modern electronics to work with -- mechanical devices fall under the Crafts Skill. If it has a processor, some transistors, or an integrated circuit -- if it's electronic rather than electrical -- manipulating it falls under Technology. A character can use Technology to build a computer, crack a security system, repair a cellphone, or hack together a shortwave radio. A player must always choose a specialty in Technology, even when her character has less than four dots in the Skill. Specialties: Communications, Computers, Industrial Espionage, Jury-Rigging, Security, Telecoms Possessed By: Defense Contractors, Engineers, Glass Walkers, Scientists, the Cable Guy Expert Knowledge This is a catch-all Knowledge, much like Hobby Talent and Professional Skill. An Expert Knowledge is anything that is primarily intellectual or mental in nature and requires study to learn. Storytellers should first examine the list of existing Knowledges to determine if a particular field of expertise might fall under one of those (e.g. Forensics would be a specialty of Investigation). Suggested Expert Knowledges: Archaeology, Area Knowledge, Cosmology, Psychology, Wyrm Lore